EPMD lyrically punished any mic they touched. Their iconic song, Headbanger, made heads everywhere bob. Why? Because the neck knows. Parrish Smith, one half of the dynamic duo along with Erick Sermon, stopped into The Shadow League lab recently to discuss one of Hip Hop’s most cherished classics.
PMD Talks About Creating Head Banger
The year was 1992. The Hit Squad members were young, boisterous and they didnt mind taking chances. The literal testicular fortitude it took for the fellas to speak truth to a corrupt record industry on seminal cuts like Crossover was almost unrivaled at the time. While others spoke on the wackness of specific artists, EPMD went after everyone who was complicit and they did it with great fanfare.
Hip Hop as a genre benefited collectively as a result.
The mesmerizing samples couldnt help but make listeners move, and DJ’s everywhere intrinsically knew that the jam needed to be played at obscene decibel levels.
Headbanger proved that the last thing EPMD would do is sell out. They stuck to their guns and made the Hip Hop industry bend to their will. It was because of their realness and lyrical prowess that future artists were able to have a seat at the table.
Their spit game wasnt created for radio, but it was their utter and undeniable dopeness that insured stations rocked them. And the beauty of it was that Hip Hop was elevated as an art form.
